DO NOT ENROLL IN ANY PHARMACY TECH SCHOOLS!! WASTE OF TIME!!!

I am interested in going to pharmacy tech school but working in the hospital.jefferson hospital ,nazareth,holy redeemer hospital
Question is its seems ever job wants you to have experience ? Im looking into community college they are 2x a week for 2 or 3 months but none have extership.

WE ARE LISTED AS # 23 ON LIST A WORST PLACES TO FIND A JOB HOW DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS LOOP HOLE?

I decided to buy some books and study them myself and take the exam in a month or two. I hope it works out.

Kyle in Lebanon, Oregon said: I am finding it hard to get a PhT job without some kind of formal training. Hospitals will not hardly talk to me after finding out that I have not yet received a formal education in PhT. Some hospitals actually require a Bachelor of Science just to be a Pharmacy tech.

A BS to fulfill Pharm Tech duties?...You must be joking...A Bachelors isn't needed EVEN in the hospital environment, let alone in retail...I can see someone who has a BS in Biology, or Chemistry, and for whatever reason didn't make it into medical school working as a pharm tech while trying to decide if pharmacy school (and a Pharm.D.) is worth it, but SERIOUSLY????

Angi..good luck. But, not easy. I tried and failed. I would suggest write mail to ptechsuccess@yahoo.com. After failing, I just got reference from this site and contact him. He was busy, but even his little guidance helped me a lot. He is so perfect that you would never fail exam. I am taking next week again. But, am so confident this time. I know medicines, laws, calcuations,almost everything. Try it Ny girl, it worked with me.He is busy though these days. Send mail though.

Angelika,

Just review your math related problems in a good review book, along with pharmacy law, and trade name-generic associations...You'll do fine...tkit_easy, Best of luck to you in your test...Think positive :)

Thank you both for the encouragement, and tkit good luck on your exam as well.

kalila in Stanton, California said: im currently enrolled in a pharmacy tech program that is completely free here in orange county, ca. i am 2 classes away from being done.

i know what you mean by the schools being a scam...you can definitely get trained as a pharmacy tech at one of these community pharmacies..the only thing is for me personally my long term goal is to work in a hospital pharmacy as they get paid wayyyy more than a tech at cvs or walgreens. or even working at a long term care pharmacy mixing iv's etc.

no hospital is going to hire someone with no experience or education credentials.

theres a big difference between cvs/walgreens and working for an actual hospital pharmacy.

hope that info helps..

good luck to all

Do you know if any pharmacies will hire someone that is CPHT from other state before registering ca's? I am moving to ca next month and have applied some positions in ca, but none responded.

I live on long island NY. One of the highest cost of living areas. The problem is pay. The retail chain stores pay pennies. They start there tech at 8-9/hr. I have been a tech since 1987. Worked until went out on maternity leave in 1994. I was making 12/hr then and I hadnt had a raise since 1992. I went back to work in 2005 and was offered 11/hr in a small independent store. I took it to regain my experience. 5 years later I was making 15/hr in 2007 and then my pay was frozen. The store closed in 2010. I have been out of work since. Rite aid and CVS loved my credentials and experience. They offered me 8.75/hr. I earned that in 1989. I have 20 years experience and a family to support. The chain store allot x amount in salaries to the pharmacy. This is eaten up by the pharmacist salaries. The pennies left over are given to the remainder of the pharmacy help that does most of the work. Hospital jobs are difficult to get and there aren't many of them. The schools advertise 40k/yr. That is misleading because at 9/hr you are not making even half that. My advice based on my experience is
chose something else. There is no future for the pharmacy tech. If you want to be apart of it, go to pharmacy school. Pharmacist earn close to 100k/ year right out of school.

job corps is for free....... so you just have to be smart about it.... and plus not every store wants a unexperienced pharm tech.

if there was one thing i would take back- going to pharm tech school. i really do believe i was scammed. when i was looking into school, it was only a year long&the school made it sound like a really cool career. WRONG. the whole program was a joke! they made us go into school, in the freezing cold snow at 7 in the morning...to learn how to count pills, and not even real pills, FREAKING M&Ms!! the teachers were clueless constantly getting everything wrong.i didn't even know that you weren't certified when you graduated...then what was the point of school!? then when that nightmare was over, it was internship time. i did mine at target& 'pharm tech' litterally means "pharmacist's slave" i would be running my ass off everyday while the pharmacist would be on her cell phone until she needed to council someone. and the other tech treated me like crap, always trying to suck up to the pharmacist for some unknown reason. the hospital hours sucked&none of the pharmacists even talked to the pharm techs, for once in my life i felt like the bottom of the barrel. this isn't an 'exciting career' and the best part? haven't even found a job yet even though pharm techs are apparently 'high in demand' ...where? i wish i had money to go back to school, to be more than someone's assistant.

I found a college (Ashwood) and its offering on-line course for 548.00 includes all books and materials for pharm tech. Looking at the reviews what are your views on this? Go and do it?

Brian in Monrovia, California said: I am looking for a good pharmacy tech school that will not rip me off. Can You suggest any schools. How doyou feel about on-line courses?

uei i went here, great school. i learned alot and work at a county jail now. 202 $ an hr

@ lili12

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience.

If not counting "real pills" is an issue, the reason why "real pills" aren't available for your counting pleasures is because the school can't afford to purchase "real" pills to be used in a pharmacy program for counting purposes. They're costly and it's pointless to buy real drugs for counting purposes when pharmacies could be prescribing these drugs for patients' need instead. M&M's works just fine. It's not a big issue. I counted Smarties to beans to Sweet Tarts.

Like you, I, myself, didn't know that we weren't certified after the program. I didn't know we have to take a national exam to be certified but now a days, in order to get a position as a pharmacy tech, it is REQUIRED for individuals to complete a pharmacy program. That is the point of going to school even though you're not certified after you graduate. After that, you are then required to become nationally certified within a time period. Back in the days, like in 2000, however, you didn't need to complete a pharmacy program to become a pharmacy tech. You can just walk into a pharmacy and apply. It's different now.

I just think you had some very bad experiences. Mines were all good and I automatically got hired on the spot during my internship at a hospital. The pharmacists were nice and so were the pharmacy techs that I worked with it. I guess it depends on the pharmacy. We DO have some nasty people in this world, though, I wish you luck and hope you find a job.

I run a certificate program at a community college. My students who finish the certificate and intern in hospitals have been finding better jobs then starting at a chain (starting at $15/hr). Still, before you start my program or any other, make sure you explore salaries and opportunities in your area.

As a working pharmacist as well as a teacher, I would suggest you go to several pharmacies and ask the pharmacist.

kalila in Stanton, California said: im currently enrolled in a pharmacy tech program that is completely free here in orange county, ca. i am 2 classes away from being done.

i know what you mean by the schools being a scam...you can definitely get trained as a pharmacy tech at one of these community pharmacies..the only thing is for me personally my long term goal is to work in a hospital pharmacy as they get paid wayyyy more than a tech at cvs or walgreens. or even working at a long term care pharmacy mixing iv's etc.

no hospital is going to hire someone with no experience or education credentials.

theres a big difference between cvs/walgreens and working for an actual hospital pharmacy.

hope that info helps..

good luck to all

hi i was wondering if you could tell me what school/courses you are taking in orange county? i currently live in orange county ca, and am looking around for somewhere good to go.

Hey Teacher in Hagerstown, MD, I live in DC and I was actually thinking about doing Penn Foster's online class for pharmacy technician just becuase the price is extremely cheap compared to other schools and it's self paced. I was just wondering if you could give me any information about your class as far as price, classes that I'll be taking, how long it is and if it is metro accessible. Thank you, oh and if you need my email because you might not want to post certain info on the forum just let me know.

Do not waste your money on any training course. I have been certified for 13 years and it still is not required by law or even cared about by most employers. If you are really interested just go apply to any neighborhood pharmacy or retail chain. They are all hiring inexperienced people for tech positions. Employers do not want to pay people like me....GOOD FOR YOU, sucks for me.

Tim in Tahlequah, Oklahoma said: You should have taken the PTCB exam...It is the ONLY national board test recognized by state boards of pharmacy (as in Texas, you have to be a CPhT to get a state license), not so in Oklahoma I'm afraid.

Problem really is that Board Certification is not required in any state to be employed. It should be a law, as it is with Pharmacists.

Poortech in East Setauket, New York said: I live on long island NY. One of the highest cost of living areas. The problem is pay. The retail chain stores pay pennies. They start there tech at 8-9/hr. I have been a tech since 1987. Worked until went out on maternity leave in 1994. I was making 12/hr then and I hadnt had a raise since 1992. I went back to work in 2005 and was offered 11/hr in a small independent store. I took it to regain my experience. 5 years later I was making 15/hr in 2007 and then my pay was frozen. The store closed in 2010. I have been out of work since. Rite aid and CVS loved my credentials and experience. They offered me 8.75/hr. I earned that in 1989. I have 20 years experience and a family to support. The chain store allot x amount in salaries to the pharmacy. This is eaten up by the pharmacist salaries. The pennies left over are given to the remainder of the pharmacy help that does most of the work. Hospital jobs are difficult to get and there aren't many of them. The schools advertise 40k/yr. That is misleading because at 9/hr you are not making even half that. My advice based on my experience is
chose something else. There is no future for the pharmacy tech. If you want to be apart of it, go to pharmacy school. Pharmacist earn close to 100k/ year right out of school.

WOW, we have almost the same exact story. I was making 16 an hour back in 2001, and walgreens offered me 9 dollars an hour. I made 10 dollars an hour when I started working as a non certified tech back in 1998. As like you they loved all I had to offer though. What a joke.

lauren in Freehold, New Jersey said: try looking at community colleges in your area or vocational technical schools run by your county, not an outside company. votech schools are less expensive and courses usually go for around $450 (that was for a dental assisstant course, i know it's not the same but it is more extensive than pharm. tech.) for a full year of study and the community college in my area costs $800 for pharmacy tech. classes. much less expensive then those other schools and you know it's not a scam.

Hey Lauren,

I was wondering which school you went to around here? was it brookdale? and are you happy with your job?

kalila in Stanton, California said: im currently enrolled in a pharmacy tech program that is completely free here in orange county, ca. i am 2 classes away from being done.

i know what you mean by the schools being a scam...you can definitely get trained as a pharmacy tech at one of these community pharmacies..the only thing is for me personally my long term goal is to work in a hospital pharmacy as they get paid wayyyy more than a tech at cvs or walgreens. or even working at a long term care pharmacy mixing iv's etc.

no hospital is going to hire someone with no experience or education credentials.

theres a big difference between cvs/walgreens and working for an actual hospital pharmacy.

hope that info helps..

good luck to all

Where are you taking your Pharmacy tech program?

kalila in Stanton, California said: im currently enrolled in a pharmacy tech program that is completely free here in orange county, ca. i am 2 classes away from being done.

i know what you mean by the schools being a scam...you can definitely get trained as a pharmacy tech at one of these community pharmacies..the only thing is for me personally my long term goal is to work in a hospital pharmacy as they get paid wayyyy more than a tech at cvs or walgreens. or even working at a long term care pharmacy mixing iv's etc.

no hospital is going to hire someone with no experience or education credentials.

theres a big difference between cvs/walgreens and working for an actual hospital pharmacy.

hope that info helps..

good luck to all

Where are you taking your Pharmacy tech program?

I went to pharmacy tech school in WA, and there you need to be schooled. Also, depending on where you work the pay is good. I know someone who makes about 20 bucks an hour. I guess it's just about location! I've also worked in NY and they just suck, but they are working on having the pharmacy techs be licensed, which I totally think is a good thing!

Hello guys from over the other side of the pond, Does the US have an approved body for registration of Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians?

If so you probably need to check with them for approved courses and providers.

As for rates i concur that Pharmacy techs don't seem to be as recognised as an essential part of Pharamacy as Pharmacist do.

Good Luck to all of you that are studying to become techs.

wizzy in Oneida, Tennessee said: Not all of the schools are scams i just went through one for pharm tech and it was great. My clinical site hired me right on at 13/hr not all are scams.

u got lucky, many do not have jobs or can find any... eventually they go back to their old jobs or don't pay the school back like my friend who skipped country, got married in phillipines, never came back

I worked at CVS for 3 almost 4 years. I started at 9/hour in MA. 3 years later, I was at 9.45/hour because corporate decided they only want to give a 2% raise. So everyone who got hired after me, got paid 10/hour or more. Do the math, it would take me 5 years to make 10/hour. Luckily I got my state certification through CVS because of paid training but you have to work at least 6 months before you take the test. However, I kept searching for a better job and recently, I found one and negotiated my wage. Now I'm making 12/hour. All depends on how much you really want it. I wouldn't stay a tech forever, but I do plan on getting my national certification to audit or teach for a while. ALSO I'm almost done with my Bachelor's in English. ^_^ Yay me!

ADVICE: Do whatever it takes to get hired at CVS or Walgreens or Rite Aid. Stick it out for 6 months to get your free state certfication. See if they'll pay for national certification and get training for it (CVS gave me the workbooks to train for it for free). Then, look for a hospital tech job or audit or teach. I got an opportunity at a hospital starting at 14/hour with FULLLLLLL BENEFITS - visual, dental, 401k, everything but I had school. School always comes first. Don't forget. Good luck everyone!